The present invention relates to imprinting apparatus, and, in particular, to a ceramic ink pad dispenser providing improved assembly, mounting and imprinting.
Stamp pad ink dispensers are employed for a variety of purposes wherein an object is pressed against an ink carry or dispensing surface and thereafter registered with an ink receiving surface. The situations requiring the procedure may vary from fixed locations to mobile and transient sites. Accordingly, a variety of dispensers have been developed for addressing the multiplicity of conditions.
Porous plate dispensers are now available wherein a finely pored substrate draws ink by capillary action upwardly from a foam dispenser pad to the imprinting surface. The imprinting plates are typically finely pored ceramics.
The ceramic plates and foam pads of the above type are generally serially assembled to the base of the dispenser case and each other with double sided adhesive tape. Considerable time and skills are required to ensure intimate contact at the interfaces to avoid gaps or wrinkles that would impair uniform ink transfer. Moreover, under ordinary usage and handling, the ceramic plates may separate from the underlying ink reservoir pad thereby also lessening the uniformity of the ink on the imprinting surface. Inasmuch as the separation is not readily repairable, the unit must be replaced in its entirety.
For field use, pocket carried cases are commonly used. For desk or other permanent locations, brackets are used to fixedly mount the applicator pad and case. For mobile applications, smaller cases and pads are preferred. The resultant variety of dispensers, sizes and mounting techniques result in a multitude of designs, even within a single organization and often at a compromise to the underlying task, i.e. reliably contemporaneously providing ink transfer for transfer in a quality format.
The present invention provides a ceramic ink pad dispenser having a ceramic plate and compressible ink reservoir that may be readily assembled in a case and releasably compressively retained by flexible detent tabs. In addition to facilitating assembly, the tabs permit removal of the plate and pad for replacement as required. The dispenser base is provided with plural modes for operatively deposing the dispenser at common permanent and transient sites. First, the base includes fastener holes for allowing fixed attachment of the case at a permanent site. The lower surface of the base provides located attachments of magnetic strips and slip resistant pads allowing the case to be used on a variety of transiently available surfaces. All mounting modes are within the confines of a typical pocket envelope, providing convenient carrying to remote and mobile sites, thereby allowing a single design to be utilized for the preponderance of investigative occurrences.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an imprint ink dispenser having a readily assembled and replaceable porous imprinting substrate.
Another object of the invention is to provide a ceramic ink dispensing pad that is uniformly compressively interfaced with a reservoir pad to provide uniform transfer of ink to the imprinting surface.
Another object of the invention is to provide an imprint case that may be deployed in a plurality of mounting modes.
Another object of the invention is to provide an imprinting pad and case that permits permanent and releasable mounting.
A further object is to provide a single format imprinting pad and case that may be mechanically, magnetically, adhesively or frictionally mounted on a working surface for securing imprints.